sweet potato Archives • The Traveling Epicurean

Baked Sweet Potato Haystacks

These baked sweet potato haystacks are done in 10 minutes! What an easy way to put some pizazz into your dish in no time at all. I love sweet potatoes anyways but my sweet potato haystacks give a light crispiness to the sweet potatoes and they make for such a wonderful presentation. Keeping it fun without a lot of work is always nice when your cooking that’s why I came up with these baked sweet potato haystacks. It’s a great way to get kids and then again some adults to try something good for you.

Use a lemon zester to make the potato strands and then bake for only 10 minutes and no more or the strands will begin to burn and get a little bitter. Top any grilled steak, sautéed chicken or fish with these hay stacks to change up the dish. You’ll have to give my Chilean sea bass, spinach and green goddess sauce II a try with these sweet potato haystacks. Before serving up the sweet potato haystacks to highlight your entrée you may want to go with a couple of starter dishes like fresh mozzarella, pesto, roasted tomato on crostinis, smoked salmon on crostinis with a cream cheese-caper spread, bacon wrapped scallops or a zucchini torta before making a chocolate-avocado mousse, or pavlova with fresh berries for dessert the night before.

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato

2 Tbsp oilve oil

1 Tsp onion granules (do not use garlic …they make the potato strings bitter)

1/2 Tsp salt

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375º

Use a potato peeler to peel the skin off of the sweet potato

Then begin to zest strands from the sweet potato

You will get little mounds of pulp like texture from the potato while you are zesting so just keep putting that aside…you don’t want the pulp in with the haystack strands.

Once one side is hallowed out just flip the potato around and zest the arc of the other side

Take the pile of sweet potato strands, place them on a cookie tray and squeeze them with a paper towel to get some of the moisture out.

Add 2 Tbsp olive oil

Add 1 Tsp onion granules and 1/2 Tsp salt and mix stands with your hands

Using your fingers spread strands in an even layer on the cookie tray as best as possible

Bake for exactly 10 minutes

Take out of the oven and scoop mounds of potatoes onto the beds of spinach to make your sweet potato haystacks

Then place your fish on top of the haystack and drizzle green goddess sauce II around the plate

Chilean Sea Bass with Green Goddess Sauce II

Chilean sea bass is full of flavor and has large meaty flakes. This is an oily fish so you need to have some kind of citrus to balance it out and that’s why my green goddess II is a perfect match! The lemon and mint in the green goddess II are key flavors in complimenting the sea bass. I am all for cooking fish rare, even sashimi style but you cannot eat this fish under done. Chilean sea bass turns gelatinous and rubber-like when under done while on the other hand when cooked properly, even slightly over, turns it into a buttery, soft fish.

I think presentation is important when friends are over for dinner and you are plating the meal but keeping it fun without a lot of work is even better so you can enjoy being with your friends. That’s why I came up with my baked sweet potato haystacks. Not only are they delicious and good for you but are super easy to add to the garlic-spinach and sea bass layers making for some good eye candy. Use a kitchen zester to make the potato strings. It’s really quite easy and they only bake for 10 minutes and no more or the strands of potato begin to burn.

Ingredients for the Chilean Sea Bass:

4 4 oz pieces of Chilean sea bass
1 Tbsp olive oil
green goddess sauce II recipe
baked sweet potato haystack recipe (below)
1 fresh sautéed spinach & garlic recipe
1 sliced lemon (a Meyer lemon if it’s available)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions for the Sea Bass:

Pre-heat oven to 350º
Rub olive oil on seabass
Add dash of salt and pepper
Heat up the sauté pan on medium/high heat
Add sea bass to the hot pan and sauté 4 minutes on each side
Put pan into the oven for 8-10 minutes
Layer on a plate a small mound of fresh sautéed spinach with garlic
On top of spinach put a pile of sweet potato haystack
Place a piece of sea bass on the very top and drizzle green goddess sauce II around plate and serve with a lemon wedge

Ingredients for the Baked Sweet Potato Haystack:

1 large sweet potato
2 Tbsp oilve oil
1 Tsp onion granules (do not use garlic …they make the potato strings bitter)
1/2 Tsp salt

Directions for the Baked Sweet Potato Haystack:

Pre-heat oven to 375º
Use a potato peeler to peel the skin off of the sweet potato
Then begin to zest strands from the sweet potato
You will get little mounds of pulp like texture from the potato while you are zesting so just keep putting that aside…you don’t want the pulp in with the haystack strands.
Once one side is hallowed out just flip the potato around and zest the arc of the other side
Take the pile of sweet potato strands, place them on a cookie tray and squeeze them with a paper towel to get some of the moisture out.
Add 2 Tbsp olive oil
Add 1 Tsp onion granules and 1/2 Tsp salt and mix stands with your hands
Using your fingers spread strands in an even layer on the cookie tray as best as possible
Bake for exactly 10 minutes
Take out of the oven and scoop mounds of potatoes onto the beds of spinach to make your sweet potato haystacks
Then place your fish on top of the haystack and drizzle green goddess sauce II around the plate

<br />